Dover, Del. --  Freshman Ashley Della Guardia's (Phoenixville, Pa.) sensational start to her career continued as she went a combined 5-for-7 with five RBI to lead the UMBC Softball team to a Sunday sweep of host Delaware State (2-4).

Della Guardia finishes her first weekend of collegiate play by going 11-for-17 with a team-high 11 RBI, 3 doubles, a triple, two walks and only one strikeout. She's slashing .647/.684/.941 so far and leads the team in every offensive category except home runs. 

Courtney Coppersmith (York, Pa.) again shined in the circle, going all seven innings in game one, striking out 15 and allowing just one hit and two walks. In her three starts this season she has gone 3-0 in 17 innings with 41 strikeouts, two walks, four hits and no runs allowed. 

Game 1

UMBC (5-1) got off to a quick start in the first game as Maddie Daigneau (New River, Ariz.) singled, stole second and scored on a Keffler RBI single. After a pair of fly outs, Della Guardia brought in Keffler with an RBI single to right, and Anna Lonchar (Bristow, Va.) then smacked a triple to make it 3-0.

The second inning was deja vu for the Retrievers as Daigneau singled with two outs, stole second and came around to score on another Keffler RBI single. 

The score remained 4-0 all the way to the top of the 7th when a similar scenario unfolded for the third time. Daigneau would lead-off with a single, move to third on a Keffler single and score on a Coppersmith squeeze bunt. Madison Wilson (Abingdon, Md.) would then score Keffler on a double to make it 6-0. Coppersmith issued her first two walks of the entire season in the bottom of the seventh, but escaped without any damage to complete the 6-0 win. 

Daigneau went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases, while Keffler also went 3-for-4 with two RBI, two  runs scored, and two stolen bases. Della Guardia, Lonchar and Wilson each went 2-for-4 with an RBI, with Della Guardia adding a run scored. 

Game 2

The Retrievers had a huge two-out rally in the first as Della Guardia kept the inning alive with a two-out single, which was followed by a Lonchar walk. Both would come around to score on a Sierra Pierce (Youngstown, Ohio) double to make it 2-0. Logan Hawker (Mechanicsville, Va.) then doubled home Pierce, and Meghan Dempsey (Collegeville, Pa.) followed with an RBI single to give UMBC a 4-0 lead early. '

Shanel Stott singled to open the second, Keffler then walked and Casey Turner (Baltimore, Md) followed by being hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs for Della Guardia, who promptly drove in two with a single up the middle to make it 6-0. 

Starting pitcher Madie Leach (Erie, Colo.) got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third after allowing a pair of two out singles, but she was able to induce a ground out to keep the Hornets off the board. DSU would get on the board with two in the bottom of the fourth (one earned), but the Retrievers would answer in a big way in the top of the fifth.

Pierce and Hawker hit back-to-back singles to start the frame, and Jessica Choplinsky (Elkton, Md.) reached on an error to load the bases. Brooke Dooley (Bear, Del.) then drove in the first two runs of her career with a two RBI single to make it 8-2. 

Eventually Della Guardia came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and delivered an RBI single that drove in Julia Colton (Elkridge, Md.) and Jaedyn McKeon (Stewartstown, Pa.) would also score on a throwing error on the play to make it 10-2. Lonchar then drove in Chloe Obispo (Virginia Beach, Va.) with an RBI single to make it 11-2.

Delaware State would get an unearned run off Gillian McCarthy (Northfield, N.J.) in the bottom of the fifth, but it was not enough to prevent the game being ended via run-rule, 11-3. 

Della Guardia went 3-for-3 with three RBI, a run and a walk, while Pierce went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Hawker also had a pair of hits and an RBI, while Colton picked up the first hit of her career in the game.

UMBC returns to The Diamond next weekend when it welcomes George Washington for a four game set. The double headers on both days will begin at 1 p.m.